Here is an unfinished rough cut video of the photos I took while in London for a week working with a Art Fair. Depending on the amount of free time I have will determine if it gets finished but since that is a commodity in small amount right now it is unlikely, so I figured I would post what i had so far.

I can say this about London though, comparing it to Tokyo and the entire US, it comes off looking like the city that is the bank to the world and has little to no litter, crime & the graffiti is kind of cute and is in no way menacing in a odd way. That and they love them some rugby…. more on that later.

Two weeks in Tokyo gives you a lot of stories but even more photos. Sometimes they are bad, sometimes they come out better then you even have the skill to take, all the time it can annoy the friends you are with, haha. Stopping every few steps, taking multiple shots, forcing them to be in the frame for multiple takes & worst of all having them stand still when the temple your in has so much stagnet water that mosquitoes the size of jawbreakers eat them alive.

This isn’t the end of the series, but wanting to have a post of the most visually interesting shots of Tokyo here is the top photos out of the 1,450+ photos that were taken. I am not exaggerating that number either. The Finalist is at the bottom and please correct me in the comments if you feel I am wrong.

Warning this is image/bandwidth heavy

Quarter Finalists

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While I was in Tokyo for two weeks in the middle of July there were two natural disasters that kept us on our feet.

Man-Yi

The first was the landfall of Typhoon Man-Yi which struck the island of Okinawa then made it’s way up the east coast of Japan to Tokyo. At it’s peak it was a category 4 Typhoon that left surprisingly as far as I can find only around 9 dead and in many reports less then 150 missing at any given time. I am not sure what the final numbers were since I can not find a summary report.

Chu-Etso-Oki

The second was 2 days later as the Chu-Etso-Oki Earthquake struck the northwest part of Japan with a 6.6 magnitude shock with aftershocks 5 hours later. The total damage cause by the earthquake can be read in this report.

In Summary:

1. The first known case of a fire in a nuclear power plant resulting from an earthquake

2. A water leak led to the release into the sea of 2,432,432 pCi worth of radioactive water

Damage that in perspective is very little and very safe in comparison to oil refinery explosions or any number of other power plant failures.

Summary

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video taken by Christopher Hudgens

Festivals

What can a foreigner say about Japanese festivals? I can barely describe American small town street festivals so any attempt to describe another culture’s take you have only seen once over the course of two days is extremely hard and I barely know where to start.

Similarities & Differences

The one thing I can say is that even though the food is at times extremely different (soba noodles and ginger beer) it is also exactly the same (meat on a stick, cotton candy & snow cones). Even though the clothing is as opposite as you can get (kimonos) it’s limited use clothing for a visual dramatic look that is not worn on a daily basis is very familiar to anyone that has gone to a Texas festival (formal snake skin boots, ten gallon hats, show belt buckles) so the idea is not that strange. The main thing I got from attending the Fuchu area 20 year anniversary, that feeling of comfort & familiarity, is the last thing I expected. Continue reading »

If you ever visit Tokyo no mater what else you want to see or visit you have to spend one morning checking out the fish market on the coast. Get up at 5:30, catch the first train and see the largest (think 3-4 American football fields), cleanest (the smell is actually pleasing) and busiest market you have ever seen. It makes Shinjuku train station look slow and boring.

I was told that they move more seafood in that market then anywhere else in the world and it is a claim that is easily believable. Tuna the size of bathtubs, Octopus the color of blood. Entire tables covered with worms moving so much that you lose your sense of depth looking at it. Sea Urchins the size of Volleyballs. Regardless of your age or gag sensitivity this is something you can’t miss. If I had to see only one thing in all of Tokyo it would be this. Continue reading »